Taranaki-King Country National MP Barbara Kuriger and her husband Louis taking a well earned coffee and muffin break from volunteering at National Fieldays. Photo / Dean Taylor
National Fieldays in an election year is a hive of activity for politicians getting their campaign messages across to the thousands of visitors.
But for National’s Taranaki - King Country MP Barbara Kuriger Fieldays is an important date on her calendar every year, and not just to push her political agenda.
Barbara and her husband Louis come from dairy farming in Taranaki, so Fieldays is part of their life.
“Plus I’m the local MP, so I head along to help out where I can,” says Barbara.
This year she is at Fieldays each day, as well as attending an event in Raglan on Saturday.
While the National Party has a stand at Fieldays, as do Act, New Zealand First, Labour and Vision NZ, Barbara is only spending a fraction of her time on the stand.
The first three days she spent as a volunteer for Fieldays Sustainability Team, visiting site holders and talking to farmers and businesspeople about their sustainability options and needs.
She says it sits well with her role as party spokesperson for conservation and position as a committee member of the Select Committee for the Environment.
There are three Fieldays Sustainability teams.
“Our team is concerned with general waste, food waste and recycling. The other teams look after Fieldays water usage and transportation and uptake of alternate transport options,” says Barbara.
“I’ll stop and talk politics if someone has questions, but I prefer to be helping and doing important work around sustainability and conservation.”
As a regular Fieldays attendee, Barbara says the event is always growing and improving, so it is always different.
“I think the eight hubs that have been developed over the years is a great idea to bring important aspects of the industry together,” she says.
“I also like the current layout where similar businesses are grouped, making it easier to make comparisons and look for the best outcomes.”
Also at Fieldays for the full four days is Louis, but he’s not tagging around with Barbara - he has his own important role as a volunteer with the maintenance team.
Louis has been a volunteer for some years and when the couple are in the Waikato for Barbara’s work, he often takes himself out to Mystery Creek to help with mowing, tractor work or some other task to keep the huge facility maintained and ready for events.
He was onsite for a number of days in the weeks leading up to Fieldays and is in one of the teams on call during the four days for any manner of unscheduled work.
This could be anything from towing stuck vehicles to clearing a drain or maintaining a track.
With many years of hands-on farming, Louis likes to keep busy and active and has a range of skills and knowledge that makes him a valuable member of the team.
Barbara says it is simpler than that: he’s in his overalls, driving around and fixing stuff. He loves it.
Whatever the outcome of this year’s general election there is no doubt the Kurigers will be at National Fieldays 2024.
Shane Jones defends Crown investments into struggling Ōpōtiki aquaculture firm.